Are you ready for Comic-Con? Well, too bad because you’ve still got three weeks to wait suckers! But it’s not all bad. In the lead up to one of the biggest conventions of the year studios have already begun teasing new footage to several upcoming movies, many of which will be featured at San Diego Comic-Con.

During this year’s annual CineEurope convention in Barcelona, Spain two of these studios, Disney and Fox, previewed exclusive footage from their upcoming Marvel feature films, including The Wolverine, Thor: The Dark World, next year’s X-Men: Days of Future Past,and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. And while no footage has been leaked as of yet the fine folks at ScreenDaily were in attendance and took note of everything going on between the two studios.

Over at the Disney presentation the company began with a never-before-seen production feature for the upcoming Thor: The Dark World, and followed it up with both footage and behind-the-scenes footage from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. No word on if any of the stars were in attendance for either film, but Disney must really have some high hopes for their Captain America sequel. In a pre-taped interview Winter Soldier co-Director Joe Russo said, “It’s going to be much greater than any Marvel movie to date.”

A big gamble considering Fox has both The Wolverine coming out next month and Bryan Singer‘s X-Men: Days of Future Past on the way. Speaking of Singer, Fox showed off a new action scene from The Wolverine and a behind-the-scenes video tour of the Days of Future Past set. Fans of the film will have a sense of the set having already seen pictures and short video released by Singer, but in the video the director reveals what he calls his “in-between-quel”, “takes place all over the world, including in Russia, China, France, Washington D.C., New York, Japan,” and beyond. According to Bryan the film will have, “more of an international flair than the other films.”

This is only a rough idea, but if this is what the studios were showing off in Barcelona you can bet they’ll be bringing their “A” game to San Diego. Either that or we just got a preview of the exact same footage we’ll be seeing next month and just saved a few people a plane ticket and several hundred dollars. Guess we’ll find out in July.

Star Trek Into Darkness has been one of Hollywood’s best keep secrets. Their villain is both known and unknown at the same time, the script is under heavy wraps and J.J. Abrams‘ has managed to get away with showing a measly three frames of footage.

As of next month, fans of J. R. R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson who happen to be watching The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (in IMAX) will be treated to 12,960 times the amount of footage Star Trek then we’ve seen all year.

With Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, and Bruce Greenwood all reprising their roles from the last film alongside newcomers Alice Eve and Benedict Cumberbatch, Paramount Pictures wants to get people in the seats. So what better way then to announce a nine-minute prologue for J.J. Abrams‘ sequel that will air ahead of the Jackson trilogy on approximately 500 IMAX screens?

So, we all know that Marvel’s massive Avengers vs. X-Men crossover is dropping in April, but just in case you were going “Wait, I need more comics to buy,” they’ve just announced a #0 issue to debut in March. Hit the jump for details.

You’ve probably heard Kevin Smith‘s been working on reality show for AMC. Don’t worry, it’s not going to be a look inside the Smith household à la The Osbournes or The Kardashians (Even if I would watch the fuck out of such a program, just sayin’). No, Smith’s new show is basically Pawn Stars for comic book fans, where they’ll assess the value of comics and collectibles. Also expect a lot of focus on the store’s employees, the daily running of a comic shop and of course, their loyal customers.

The show is based in Smith’s own comic book store in Redbank, N.J. called Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash. In fact the show was originally going to be called Secret Stash but it’s been changed to Comic Book Men, as we can see from these promos,

Comic Book Men premieres on AMC right after the return of The Walking Dead‘s second season on February 12th. Nice time slot I’d say.

[NOTE: I’m going to go all editorial-like from here on out. If you’d prefer to not read the ranting of a comic book and Kevin Smith fangirl coming to terms with the name, Comic Book Men, move along.]

I’m really excited for this show and I hope it opens up the “mysterious” world of comic book shops to the unknowing public. I just have one teeny, weeny, itsy, bitsy problem. Did it really need to be titled Comic Book MEN?

First off, I think this is a dumb name no matter what gender it references. I understand Secret Stash could have been misleading, and this new title is very clear, but I still find it dumb. Then again, I’d find just about any reality show name dumb, but even Comic Book Fans, or The Comic Shop or something along those lines would sound better.

Secondly, calling it Comic Book Men makes me feel not welcomed. I love comic books and I frequent a fantastic local shop where I’ve never felt excluded or like a freak of nature for having boobs. To clarify, having boobs and reading the comics as opposed to posing on their covers. This comic shop also has a fairly diverse staff, gender-wise. For people a little weirded about comic shops this is where I send them, because it’s clean, organized, helpful and very welcoming. Comic book stores are in a bit of trouble if you didn’t know, they want your business, not matter who you are. So why would they choose a title that seems to say, “We’re a show for the boys, by the boys”? Why exclude female fans? What I’m afraid will happen is the title and the way they’re promoting the show might turn off other female comic books fans or maybe, women who don’t even know they’re comic book fans yet because they’ve not had the same wonderful experience at a local shop like I have.

I’m not going to vilify Kevin Smith. I adore him and I don’t think he set out to make a show about comic books where women are not welcomed. Unfortunately, it seems like that’s what happened. I know plenty of people will think I’m freakin’ out over the title for really no reason (and it’s not just me, Jill Pantozzi, who also auditioned for the show, wrote about her disappointment of the show’s new direction over on Newsarama). But after this passed year, which was freakin’ RIPE with controversy over the portrayal of women in comics, the lack of women creators being hired by the big companies and especially after those kerfuffles at conventions between comic book companies and their female fans (I’m lookin’ at you DC Comics at SDDC), you’d think someone would have seen Comic Book Men as a possibly controversial title.

All right, I’ve aired my grievances. I’ll still tune in after The Walking Dead, and I’m sure I’ll love what I see. Why? Because I love comics, and I love people who are fans and enjoy talking about them as much as me. I just would have liked to see someone like me invited to the party.

If you made it to the San Diego ComicCon this year, you might have had a chance to see a few peeks of Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts, the forthcoming documentary directed by Patrick Meaney and co-produced by Respect Films and Sequart on the life and work of the legendary creator of Transmetropolitan, Planetary, Doktor Sleepless, Freakangels and Fell. While some of us here at NerdBastards (namely our Fearless Leader Luke, the bastard) made it to the con, we weren’t able to make that particular panel. Luckily, the director himself was kind enough to send me his SDCC clip reel.

It’s been a little more than 24 hours since the Season 6 premiere of Doctor Who, “The Impossible Astronaut,” premiered in America, but there’s no rest for us Time Lords. Now we have previews of the next episode, “Day of the Moon,” which will conclude the two-parter season premiere story and continue to warp The Doctor’s already darkened world.

First up is your basic “Next Time on Doctor Who…” preview for “Day of the Moon,” which features more details on exactly how big the presence of new villains The Silence really is (it’s big, kids). Then come two new clips from the episode, one that further emphasizes the dangers of The Silence, and one that features Amy Pond alone in a dark room that’s just plain creepy.

“Day of the Moon” premieres next Saturday on BBC and BBC America. Until then, enjoy the clips.

Give me a P. Give me an A. Give me an X. What does that spell? PAX…you dyslexic sucka duck! YES, the much-anticipated, annual, nerdfest PAX East (a la Penny Arcade) in Boston came, went and totally took advantage of the prime real estate that is my body. I need a breath mint, deodorant and massage from a small Vietnamese woman with mighty – yet gentle- hands (and is up for expected happy ending). For those of you scratching your heads wondering what the hell is PAX East?! First, I’d like to slap you upside the head for being an ignorant douche-canoe. This is our culture. How do you not know about this?!?! OK, here’s a quick run-through: PAX East, is like a smaller E3, but intended for consumers rather than developers. See, they get a bunch of video game hot shots to show off their hardware, software and um…in some cases hot chicks in tall boots

"These boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do, one of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you."

Then, they invite the public to hang out and fall in love with all kinds of the latest, greatest gear and games on (or about to enter) the video game scene. Attendees can play games, attend panel sessions about all kinds of cool stuff, see live music and even compete in video game tournaments! Exciting, right? YES! Especially if you like shiny bags of SWAG, the occasional hot chick in costume, new technology, and inspiring speeches.

So now you have a pretty solid idea of what goes on in general. What might not be entirely clear to you is the feeling of “home”. *cue the violin for sappy time* Let’s face it, we as gamers are strange and weird. We typically don’t mesh well with the world outside our own. The acceptance in ordinary society is growing quite rapidly, but how many people in your life truly appreciate and understand your pleasure, your obsession, your escape? While we’re predominantlyhaving too much fun to care, wouldn’t it be nice to be embraced by a collective mutuality? After all, you know gamer friends are the perfect circle of people you always want to hang out with. Why not a sea of thousands, all singing to the tune of “Let’s Play”? Simply put, PAX is your haven. Your heaven. Your home.

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